Half to frank k



(No Model.)

I. A. JOHNSON. IRONING TABLE.

UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK A. JOHNSON, OF LOVELL, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF TO FRANK K. STEARNS, OF SAME PLACE.

IRONING-TABLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of LettersPatent No. 326,744, dated September 22, 1885.

Application filed August 23, 1884.

To aZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK A. JOHNSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lowell, in the county of Middlesex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ironing-Frames, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to frames adapted to hold holland curtains and similar articles stretched while being ironed in order to preserve their proper width, and to enable their side edges to be ironed straight.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is an isometric View of part of an ironing-table and ironing-cloth of the usual construction on which rests my improved frame, a curtain being stretched in said frame; Fig. 2, a plan of the bottom of one of the side rails, showing the clamping-bar resting in a groove in said rail, the links, and the wrench, one end of the side rail and clamping-bar being broken off, and the clamp being closed, Fig. 3, the same as Fig. 2, except that the clamp is represented as open; Fig. 4, a cross-section of theside rail on the line x x in Fig. 2; Fig. 5, a cross-section of the side rail on the line y y in Fig. 2; Fig. 6, an end view of the side rail and clamping-bar; Fig. 7, a side view of oneof the movable gage-blocks and holdingscrews, showing also a portion of one of the stretchers through the middle of the adjusting-slot; Fig. S, a cross-section of a stretcher and gageblock at the holding-screw.

Itis difficult after washing and starching so called holland curtains or shades made of cotton or linen*such as are commonly wound on shade-rollers-to iron such curtains so that they will have the same width as before being washed, and so that their side edges will be straight enough to look well and wind evenly on the rollers. The attempt is made to accomplish this by pulling the side edges of the curtain up to straight lines on the ironing-ta ble; but the operation is a laborious one and only partially successful, and the curtain after ironing is likely to be of varying width.

To secure better results with less labor I use the ironing-frame hereinafter described. This frame consists of two side rails, A A, (both alike,) and two stretchers, B B, (both (No model.)

alike.) Each side rail, A, has on one of its broader surfaces a longitudinal groove, a, of uniform depth, and running from end to end of said side rail and preferably shaped like the half of a dovetail groove, (see Figs. 4, 5, and 6)-that is, the outside of the groove is parallel with the side of the side rail, and the other side of the groove is cut under or inclined, so that the bottom (meaning the deepest part) of the groove is wider than the top or opening of the same. A clamping-bar, O, of a thickness not exceeding the depth of the groove, is laid therein, and has its faces parallel to the sides and bottom of said groove; but it is enough narrower than the groove a to allow it to be moved sidewise in said groove. The clamping-bar C is connected to the side rail by links D, preferably of sheet metal, of uniform length and parallel with each other, which are pivoted by screws or studs d, which pass through holes in the ends of said links into said bar O and rail A, as shown. The ends of each link are let into said bar and rail flush with them by means ot' notches a shaped as shown-that is, having one side at right angles with the axis of such bar or rail, and the otherside being at such an angle with said axis that the bar, when moved endwise, will be swung either against the right-angled side ofthe groove or against the inclined side of the same, the links being of sufficient length therefor. The right-angled sides of 4the notches which hold a link are parallel with each other and on opposite sides of the link, and serve as a stop to hold the bar from being thrown too far-that is, far enough to loosen the clamp.

The wrench E is a bar of wood or metal adapted to be grasped by the hand and provided with two parallel pins, c e, projecting from the same face of said wrench at the same distance from each other as the pivots d of a link, and when the wrench is used these pins are inserted in holes d2 d bored in the clamping-bar and side rail in such positions that the line through the centers of said holes will be parallel with a line through the centers of the pivots d of any link. Turning the wrench E (when the pins are in the holes) at right angles to the side rail A will throw the clainp- Ioo ing-bar against the inclined side of the groove, as in Fig. 2, and turning the wrench at an acute angle to said side rail will'draw thefaces of the jaws of a clamp consisting-of the' side rail and the clamping-bar.

Each stretcher B is provided with a gageblock, b, fixed on its under surface, and with an adjustable gage-block, b, provided with a screw, b2, which projects upward 'through4 a longitudinal slot, b, in the stretcher'B, and through a washer, b", and thumb-nut b5 above said stretcher. The block b is alsoA provided with a rib, be, which enters said slot b3 and prevents said block b and screw bIl fromturning when the thumb-nut b5 is-turned.

By means of the slot, screw, and thumb-nut the movable gage-block may be adjusted and. held at the desired distance from-the iiXed block of the same stretcher.

In order that'the curtains may, when required, be stretched lengthwise, and in order that the side edges thereof may be straightened against the bottom of the groove a, there are recesses a extending from the top to the bottom of the inclined side of the groove a, (one recess being near one end of the side rail and the others being at intervals near the other end of said rail, to accommodate different lengths of curtains,) and the side edge of thecurtain is held (until it is clamped) near its-ends by being pinched between the sides of said recesses and pins or awls driven into the bottom of said groove within said recesses, the recesses being deep enough to allow the pinsor awls to be out of contact with the clamping-bar when the clamp is closed. After clamping the pins or awls are removed.

In use (the clamps being open, as shown in Fig. 3) one side edge `of the curtain G is placed in the groove a of one side rail and held at the bottom of said groove (by the awls) and there clamped by the means above described, and the other side edge is then similarly placed and clamped in the other side rail, said rails being turned in opposite directions from each other, so that the inclined sides of the grooves are nearest each other. rIhe side rails, with the grooved sides down, and the curtain are then laid on the ironingcloth f of the ironing-table F, and the side rails are held apart by the stretchers, the blocks thereon being placed between the side rails and against the inner edges of the side rails.

In order that the movable gage-blocks may be set at the proper distance from the iixed' blocks, and that each movable block may be set at the same distance from the corresponding fixed block, the stretchers are each marked by a graduated scale, bl, which has divisions about an eighth of an inch apart, the inches being numbered, the zero-point of the scale being nearer the end of the stretcher than the outer face of the fixed block by adistance as l great as the sumof the widths ofV the-*margins of the curtain, which are below the side rails and in the grooves of the side rails, so that the outer faces of the movable gage-blocks are set to that division the number of which on `the scale represents the full width in inches and fractions of an inch of the curtain when ironed, this width being ascertained by measurement and noted down before the curtains are washed.

The frame containing the curtain being properly arranged, as above described, on the table F, the curtain between the side rails is ironed'in the usual manner, and then the eurtain is released from the clamps andthe margins are ironed, these margins being-so narrow that their stretchingor,shrink-ing will not perceptibly affect the width of thecurtain;V

' I claim as viny invention- 1. The combinationr ofV the side'` rail provided with a longitudinal groove, the clamping-bar placed within vsaid groove, andthe links each pivoted at one end to said rail and at the other end to said bar, as andfor the purpose specied.

y2. The` combination of the siderail -provided with a longitudinal groove, the clamping-bar placed within said groove, and the links each pivoted at one end within a notch formed in said side rail and at theother end in a notch formedv in said clamping-bar, said notches each having a sideat right angles to the piece in which they are formed adapted to be struck by and to stop the link placed within it when the clamp formed by said side rail,- links, and clamping-bar is closed, asand for the purpose specified.

j 3. The combination of the side rails and clamping-bars, and means,substantially as described,for securing the margin and side edges of a curtain between said rails and-bars, and the stretchers adapted to rest upon said side rails, and each provided with a graduated scale having numbered divisions, and `with gage-blocks the outer face of one of which is Xed to said stretcher at a distance' from and above the zero-point of said scale as greatas the combined width of the margins of said curtain covered by said side rails and clamping-bars, and the other of which gage-blocks is adjustable along said scale, means, substantially as described, for holding-the outer face IOO IIO

IIS

of said adjustable'block against a division-of 120 said scale, said blocks being adapted to be placed against the inner edges of said rails and to hold said rails apart, as and for the the pivots of one of said links, and a Wrench the same andadapted to receive the side edge provided with pins adapted to enter said holes, of a curtain, and an mvl or pin, as and for the as and for the purpose speeied. purpose speoied.

5. The combination of the clamping-ber and FRANK A JOHNSON. 5 the side rail having alongitudinal groove with WVitnesses:

an inclined side, and having recesses in said ALBERT M. MOORE, inclined side extending7 from top to bottom of EDWARD NV. THOMPSON. 

